![]() It looks like Rikki was right-she’s too young to defeat a cobra. Rikki emits her battle cry, but instead of retreating, Nag readies to strike. Nag recognizes his stolen skin and Rikki takes it off, revealing herself as the young mongoose. Rikki’s reluctance to eat Darzee and awkwardness in performing the cobra dance arouse Nag’s suspicions. He also offers to share the garden with Rikki if she will help him kill a certain young mongoose. He hypnotizes Darzee and offers her to Rikki as a meal. He mistakes the disguised Rikki for another cobra. After Chuchu reveals the truth, Rikki realizes that Darzee was lying to her about them being poisoned. Rikki tries to keep Chuchu from eating the crumbs Teddy dropped as he fled, believing they are poison to all animals except birds. Teddy comes with food but thinks Rikki is Nag and runs away, frightened. Rikki asks to put it on and Darzee sews it on tight. Leaving one egg uneaten, they push the nest back under the bushes.Ĭhuchu puts on the cobra skin to help Rikki practice, but scares himself so badly that he has to take it off. Examining them closely, they realize these eggs come not from a bird but from a snake! Rikki and Chuchu gobble them down. She makes Rikki and Chuchu promise to never eat a bird egg.ĭarzee is surprised when Chuchu and Rikki reveal that this nest is on the ground. Rikki and Chuchu are overjoyed-eggs, their favorite food! Believing them to be bird eggs, Darzee describes all the love and attention birds put into caring for their young. They are very hungry and look around for crumbs from Teddy that might be scattered among the bushes. Rikki, Chuchu and Darzee come back with Nag’s skin to practice killing a cobra. Although he accidentally drops one egg, and then eats it, he finds a safe place in the bushes, hides the rest and leaves. While they leave to get the skin, Nag enters the garden to look for a place to hide his precious nest of eggs. Darzee suggests she practice on Chuchu dressed in Nag’s old skin. She decides to learn how to kill Nag on her own. But Rikki, who has had no training in how to fight a cobra, is determined to leave-until Darzee says Nag threatened to kill Teddy! Rikki resolves to stay until she has made the garden safe for the pet. Seeing the cobra, she emits her battle cry of “rikki tikki, rikki tikki.” Nag, knowing that a mongoose can kill cobras, slithers away.ĭarzee and Chuchu, now understanding Rikki’s value to the garden and to themselves, beg her to stay and protect them. Just as Nag prepares to strike them, Rikki returns. Chuchu comes back, and Darzee realizes her mistake. Darzee grows alarmed when Nag talks of eating birds and everyone else, including Teddy. Darzee thinks it is just Chuchu pretending to be the cobra. Meanwhile Nag comes hissing into the garden. Amazed that Chuchu has a good idea, Darzee approves and Chuchu leaves to get disguised. He offers to dress up in the skin to frighten Rikki away. He sometimes puts it on and hisses because he wants to be scary, even though wearing it scares Chuchu so much that he has to close his eyes. ![]() Chuchu suggests they scare her away with a cobra-Chuchu has the old skin that Nag recently shed. She convinces Chuchu they need a plan to get rid of Rikki. Darzee claims that all Teddy’s crumbs went to the new mongoose. Rikki and Teddy leave to continue what each believes is training the other.Ĭhuchu the muskrat then pokes in hoping to eat the leftover crumbs. However, Rikki cannot resist the candy Teddy offers. Trying to corner all the food and scare Rikki away, she claims that Teddy’s bread crumbs will poison Rikki and Teddy’s petting will kill her. Darzee calls Teddy her “pet” and explains she has trained the child to come into the garden to feed her. Rikki thinks he is the cobra and cowers as Teddy pets her. Then Teddy, the child of the human family who owns the garden, comes in whistling. But Rikki has never seen a live cobra and she is terrified by Darzee’s description. Rikki says she loves cobra-in her mother’s dinner casseroles. Darzee warns her of Nag the cobra who sometimes comes to the garden. She has found hers!ĭarzee tries to make the garden seem unappealing, but Rikki loves it. ![]() But Rikki has learned from her mother that every mongoose needs a garden to make perfect. Darzee does not want to be friends with Rikki and tries to convince Rikki to leave. She remembers, “Dark, wet, whoosh, can’t see, floating and floating, land here, sleep, wake up.” She knows she is lost and misses her cozy burrow, but she is delighted to find a “best friend” in Darzee. Alarmed by snoring, she awakens a young mongoose who, startled, cries out “rikki tikki, rikki tikki.” After Darzee calms her down, the mongoose introduces herself as Rikki Tikki Tavi. On a bright sunny day in India, Darzee the tailorbird enjoys the garden home she is proud to call all her own.
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